Self-adjusting radius rod



Sept. 2, 1930. P. E. MATTHEWS SELF ADJUSTING RIADIUS ROD Filed Jan. 18, 1929 2 sheets-sheet 1- Sept. 2, `1930.' P. E.' MATTHEWS 1,774,990

' ELF ADJUSTING' RADIUS ROD Filed Jan. 18, 1929 2 sneetssneez 2 PmzlpE/vam am,

t finti 'Patented 'Sept v1)-, 19310.

V fr

A SELFLADJIISTVIGBAIIUS JaolafjY l l The'present 'inve1ition'-ielates tofradius- :rods forspacing the aXle .of arnotor vehicle.'

' from theatrarnek and transmittingv- ,thevdrivef fromthe Wheels, to the body of. the vehicle;rv

More particularly, the invention embodies any improved form 'of radius rood Whichis mountl ed pivotally'atone Aend vuponfthe frame 'and i providedvvitha means lfor absorbing yieldingly, the stresses and sudden d shocksv translniittedffrom the radius rod't'o the frame. I j i- Particularly fin vehicles of the "chain drive type, it hasgbeen .ound-that,` underfcertainlr;

'conditions,ythe chain will becomelocked, re-j y sulting in subjecting the raine,las Wellas all f1. of the driving; elements to'greatstresses.- For* Y examplelvvhena truck oii'thec'hain drive type .l

l backs upinto av pileV otsand', gravel orfclayy such material becomes'lodged vin thechain rand causes itto'becomeftightened; 1- Under lthese conditions, With aradius; rod that ispositively spaced between the frame and` axle,

y thejchain becomes locked andthe engine is Y 5 stalled.;l If the vehicle isheavily loadedand is V'accelerated romja positiony of rest7 the] relatively small amount ofpower available.` due to the slowest speed of theengine availableinlovv gear, sometimes proves to insultij l n cient to start the Vehicle.,Wh'ere the conditionv ofthe ground is such that the Wheels WillV slip and flywheelaction is not possible., the engine cannotbe sped rup and vthe vehicle fly-f 3 v v 'y Wheeled out because ofthe slipyplngywlnch 1 V A; .Sendlbmcket g is' mounted; uponvthe y vframe and' carriesran` arm?,gfprovidedfvvith a pivot shaft-gf?l Between the vpivot -sliaftf-gz` and the end of the spring f,fa linkhis mounty resultsA under vthe Wheels.

An obj ect.V of the Y present that it Will be impossible to loclrthe chain.

'In addition,` the yielding connection further -`v4@provides increasedtraction 'as Well "as inn tothe radius rod in .such manner `that the orces'transmitted through `the radius rod to fn. MiA'icblH'Evs, of@ PLAVINFiELD, NEW'@massif-AssigneejT MoToRcoMrANY, or NEW YORK; n; Y., A cenromauiioia, v

'i g-Fi'gure l2' sfa vi'evvan .side felevati'on, shovvingthefdeviceto' Figurel?. r

liia'urel 3 issallvievvv invsideilelevation,"simlla-ntoFigureQj,but showin :atmodiiiedform'j Y.

d invention is -to provide a meansrwhich yieldingly connects the radius rod to the`l frame in suchmanner,`

DELAWARE ofthe inventionf I "Figureis affview'insideielevationfshowfA, nig: further lmodilied form of the invention i' drive vehicle. 'f f d.V t Arbracket ef issecured to 'the Jframev vmein- @Imaan-16W ill y vas n the frame. lv'villf: be "lappliedy tof Iother latter f through,the-IspringlfV f .tionis describedinigreatergdetailin-connecs c tion with Y the accompanying dravvings;@5fx 1 Y Y pla `jvievv showingonehor-inc jjf of theinventions'.51` 1' -Figure isa;diagrammatic'illustration of y What-happens when the chains lock in ,acli'ainy Referrin,q` to the-aboveidravvings,va;idesig-` v nates' the side framememberf of avlehicle pro-b` fvide'd ywith a radius rod of? This radiusro'd *c *transmits the .driving/j force :r'omvf the rear axles, no tsho'wn, to'the Vframel d land is4 con-v nected rthrough a'y ball and socket joint@ of conventional.fornito the endoffafc'rank armi,

mountingpivotally, the crankiarin El'. ff,

oponer@ opposites@ f:thepiv`0t;frm l the ball andsocletjoint ,jthe 'crankfaifm is formed with a 'boss d. to which a. leaf spring fis secured by means of U-shaped boltsd ed, thuslpermitting relative` movementfbe tween the ,end ofthe spring y@l andthe'. pivot n In the ormshoWnlinFigure:3the bracketis replacedfby a bracket icarrying allons-f i Y' ving With a cover z'secured. thereto-bymeans of bolts 3. @Within thehousing',v` ,a blocl of yielding non-metallicmaterial #is carried,

the. erfl, .Oft-the .Spring fleeingre'ceivelwthinf J this block.` This block, which may be formed yofrubber, serves torcushion the forces transf mitted between the Aframe and'spring as will K v vlbequite apparent.

A In the device shown in Figure 4, a bell crank j replaces the crank ,army cl and is pivotal'ly connected to a link kwhich pivoted to the end of the spring Z which is mounted upon the frame. It will be seen that the acktion in thisco'nstruction is similar to that "speedof the engineto be increased materi-v k ally, thus developing more power when the V.in the previousdevices, save that `the spring is. fixedly. mounted upon thefraine instead .j of being mounted-upon the crank' arm. n.

. The manner in which thev spring f cushions thef forcesrvtransinitted" between the radius rod and frame f'will be; quite-apparent and, in. practice, starting of the vehicle under Aheavy loads v is greatly facilitated. During' the 'flexing of spring f, the movement ofthe `wheel with respect to the frame permits the full-.load isappliedafter the springceases 4 to `yield further. In'addition to the greater k Y, tion and the traction greatly increased by p l"reason, thereof. f As` previously stated, the yield between the sprocket and axle prevents power available,.the wheel has gotten in moloc'kingLof-the chains which action would 'jack yslriafts,.difl'erential, bearings, frame,`.

otherwise throw a great strainA upon the axles,

housings, radius; rods, chains and sprockets. In VFigure 5,?lthere is shownin greatly exaggerated .form.,'.the manner which the abovey mentioned elements yield when the Lenormous strain resulting from lockingiof the chains is* imposed thereon. j Since the locking of the chain results from' objects wedging in between ,the'sprocket teeth and tance between thev axes ofthe axle and j ack shaft. This results 'in a'bending of the ele` ments in the manner shown in Figure 5.

Whilejthe invention has been described with reference to the specific construction -shownv in the accompanying drawings, it is not to be limited,save 'as defined in the appended claims. t l l I'claim as my invention:` v

l. In combination,a Vehicle frame, a radius Y This specification signed this 11th day of f January,

yPHILIP E. MATTHEWS.

chainflinks, the VVeffect is to shorten the dis-y frod, a lever pivoted between its ends lon the f `frame, a ball 'and socket joint between one` end of the levier and the radiusr rod, a leaf Y Aspring mounted on the other end of the lever,

` frame.

5k and a yielding, non-metallicshackle connection -between the end of the spring and the :2.i In combination, a vehicle frame, a radius frame, a balland soeket jointfbetween one endof'the lever and' the radius rod, a leaf spring mounted on theother end of the lever, anda shackle connectionbetween the end of Vthe 'spring and the frame.

3. In combination, a vehicle frame, a radius rod, alever'pivoted between its ends on the 

